By Sarah Opdahl
At their meeting on Wednesday, June 21, New Fairfield’s Board of Finance (BOF) voted 4-2 to revise the public comment policy. Following spring budget season meetings that lasted upwards of eight hours, going into the wee hours of the morning, BOF members grappled with setting a new standard, with an overall time limit for public comment sessions set at 45 minutes at each meeting’s beginning and 15 minutes at the end. Each speaker will continue to be limited to three minutes per speaker per session. The BOF also added a caveat for the Board’s Chair to have the ability to adjust the public comment parameters when appropriate.
Some BOF members commented that the limited public comment will help them to get to business in a reasonable time frame, remembering that the “business” portion of some meetings didn’t begin until after 10:00 p.m. Others felt that the timing for public comment changes is flawed, given the heavy engagement that that Board has experienced recently. It was pointed out that in year’s past, the BOF had all but begged for public input and they received it in multitudes this year.
The Town’s audit for the 2021-2022 fiscal year was “all fairly good news,” according to BOF Chair Mr. Wes Marsh. There was over 99% tax collection rate for the Town, a healthy unassigned fund balance, and significant capital asset activity. The town still maintains a AAA rating from Standard and Poor’s. Though the total long-term debt is high due to the new school construction, “we’re well under the bar of what we can borrow,” Marsh said.
There was a brief discussion about teacher pension funds, especially given the state’s potential interest in shifting management of the plans to the towns, but there is little fear of that happening soon. Ms. Cheryl Reedy stressed, “there’s no town in the state of Connecticut that is going to accept that, ever. “
Reedy noted to her fellow BOF members, “all the good stuff in the audit is in footnotes, so read the footnotes carefully. They help explain a lot of how the town works.”
In a discussion about the stop loss for the town’s self-insured medical plan, which caps employee medical expenses, the BOF agreed to set the stop loss at $200,000 with a 120% aggregate stop loss. Four claims this year totalled over $225,000 each this year and it is impossible to anticipate whether the charges will continue at this high of a rate.
The BOF briefly discussed the legal fees that have grown beyond the originally budgeted amount of $127,000. A transfer of $40,000 is needed to cover the fees. Town Finance Director Ms. Olga Melnikov explained the legal line item is difficult to anticipate in a budget, as unexpected costs can and do arise. She explained they “use the original budget as a starting point” and “we’ve done really well for the last couple of years as far as our legal expenditures overall.” Several matters surfaced this year, including the ongoing bus lot litigation, a disciplinary issue that went into arbitration, a 500-page Freedom of Information Act request that required extensive redaction, and more.
Board members approved a one-time BOF contingency expense to pay for expenses related to the second budget referendum. There were some remaining funds in the Town’s budget to cover a portion of the vote but more was needed. Elisa Beckett-Flores, one of the Town Registrars explained this is “our fifth election this cycle for the fiscal year, so because of that, we have almost no money left in the coffers to fund the second round of the budget vote.” Costs include the ballots, training and poll workers, and election supplies. There was some hesitation among members about using the contingency funds for these expenses, but there was board-wide comfort after everyone was reminded the contingency funds will reset at the fiscal year’s end in a handful of days.
The next regular Board of Finance meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 19, 7:30 p.m.